Buying a telescope can be a somewhat pricey purchase. Therefore, it is important to take a look at all the
different features in order to determine which ones are really important to you.

Power

Magnifying power is not the most important consideration when choosing a telescope. More important is the
scope's light gathering capability, or aperture, which determines how much you will be able
to see.

The brightest, sharpest images are obtained at the lower powers of 25 to 50x

Types of Telescopes

Refractors

Generally, starter telescopes offer a small achromatic refractor of 60 mm to 80 mm aperture. This is fine for
observing the moon and major planets. These small apertures, however, are not ideal for faint deep-sky objects. More
advanced stargazers should consider moving up to a 90 mm or 100 mm refractor.

The higher the refractor, the better the performance.

Refractor telescopes are a good choice if you are doing most of your star gazing in the city or suburbs or
other relatively high light areas. A larger scope will amplify the significant existing light and make it difficult to
see anything.

Reflectors

Newtonian reflectors are generally good all-around scopes for both planetary and deep-sky viewing. Smaller,
3-4.5 inch Newtonian reflectors are a significant step above refractor versions, and 6-8 inch versions offer even
increased range. The size and weight of these versions limits their portability, so be sure you have a dedicated space
for them

Schmidt-Cassegrains are more portable than Newtonian models. An 8-inch version provides excellent versions of
the moon, planets and deep-sky objects. These are expensive models for more advanced astronomers and are not
recommended for backyard hobby viewing.

Mounts

Telescopes come in three basic mounts: altazimuth, dobsonian, and equatorial.

Altazimuth

Altazimuth is the simplest and is recommended for casual stargazing and planetary observing

Dobsonian

Dobsonian mounts are boxy, altaz-type mounts designed for easy maneuvering of the larger Newtonian tubes of 6
inch aperture and larger

Equatorial

Equatorial mounts are more complicated and expansive but allow the user to follow the motion of celestial
objects with a single manual control

Telescope Buying Tips

Get as much aperture as you can reasonably handle, but not more

Big aperture is generally better, but you don't want to buy a telescope that is too big or complicated to
conveniently set up and use

If you are buying your first telescope, a basic refractor model with 90 mm aperture or smaller is acceptable

For a slight step up from the basic model, a Newtonian reflector of 6-inch aperture or less is recommended